The Silicon Valley payment processor is firing back at critics who say its bid for a bank charter would open the door to similar gambits by tech giants. Community activists, meanwhile, seem to be coming around to the idea of Square opening a bank.

Meetings between bank regulators and technology giants like Amazon and PayPal underscore Silicon Valley's growing involvement in the financial services arena, and may presage pursuit of a bank charter.

The payments processor Square has big plans in banking — but even after filing an application to charter an industrial loan company, it still doesn’t see itself as a competitor to most financial institutions.